Watch: Huge solar flares cause radio blackout

SCOTT SUND, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By SCOTT SUNDE, SEATTLEPI.COM

Updated 1:53 pm, Friday, October 25, 2013

This is the first of two solar flares on Friday, Oct. 25, 2013. NASA describes the photo this way: "NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an X1.7 class flare on Oct. 25, 2013. The image shows light in the 131-angstrom wavelength, which is good for seeing material at the intense temperatures of a solar flare, and which is typically colorized in teal."
(NASA/SDO photo)

This is the first of two solar flares on Friday, Oct. 25, 2013....

This is the second of two solar flares on Friday, Oct. 25, 2013. NASA describes it this way: "This image of a second solar flare on Oct. 25, 2013, was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, and shows a blend of light in wavelengths of 193 and 131 Angstroms. The flare, an X2.1, appears as the bright flash on the left." (NASA/SDO/GSFC photo)

Increased numbers of flares are quite common at the moment, since the sun's normal 11-year activity cycle is currently near solar maximum conditions. Humans have tracked this solar cycle continuously since it was discovered in 1843, and it is normal for there to be many flares a day during the sun's peak activity. The first X-class flare of the current solar cycle occurred in February 2011. The largest X-class flare in this cycle was an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.